Gopher gun



E Rofiert Z? Arm strong,

Aug. 14,1923 um R. F. msmews GOPHER GUN Ofiginal Filed March ,7, 1921' 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ill/VENTOR 14 TTOR/VEYS mmmn Aug. 14, 1923.

R. F. ARMSTRONG GOPHER GUN Original Filed March '7,

1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 MW Hr N.[ s m r A F. t e. A R m w w w Aug. 1 4, 1923. mm m IR. F. ARMSTRONG GOFHER GUN Original Filed March '7, 3.921 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fafier-C FT'Arrnstrovg,

V 8V I 6 ATTORNEYS 7 V V i I V I 4e ii Fatenteei' Au ie, 1923. t 9 eifiei mime-m et mime tOBitBLT Fume Anias'rnone, OF LA CYGNE, KANSAS.

GOPI-IER, GUN. Afipiictieii fiid Mart n- 7, 1921; Serial No. 450,272. Renewed Decembe'i- 29, 1922.

To'aZZ tvlzomz i po' 'wem: frame. A pair of diverging legs 16 ztre ar- Be it known that 1, Ronnie? Fn'ANeIs ranged at the rezii of the frame and Carried AnMsTRoi' 'G, 2; Citizen of the Unlt'e'ci States, by the part 12 thereof. a and zif'e's'ideht (it La Gy'g'n'e51iithe county of A breech 17 is carried by the part 12 5 Linn and'smte 'of'Ka nse's, have invented of the frame, preferably by being formed certain new and useful Improvements integral therewith. The breech is provided Gopher Guns, of whichflthe' following is a; With a cavity 18 and with a bore 19 which spe ificatiom v communicates with the cavity. The forward The preseiit iiiven'tioii relates to impi yeend of the cavity is internally threaded and i0 nie'fits in guns esjiecizil-ly adapteti' it: use in engages the externally threaded Run 21 f ki ling gop'her's aiiti ('it'he'r undesirable a iiia b'a'rrel 22. A firing pin, designated genmale; y erilly at 23, is mounted in the bore 19 of j The bbjec't (if the invention is to prbvide the breech and has a stri'kef 24 it its inn'efb im foved gen (if this chifctei which is" end and an annular enlargement 01f impact 15' of simple anti dfi'rzihi dohs'tftictidn reiidble surface 25' it its outer end. A hammer 27 in operation zir'id easy and inexpensi ye Chalets with the firingpin, and hits" in nienufzic tnre', iiihieh is epefated by the; Impact surface 28 provided thereon 01 @11- gopher When the gopher is in the of ta'ct with the impact supine 25 hf the fi iwhereby d's truetieii'" is" nitide' ce'rttin ing pin. A fingefp'i'eee 2 7 'eiitendsllater'ally 0 and Whieh is adapted to be ijbsi tioiied' as" from the hannnei and permits of the ready to be 516st effective anti eflieient in 'czt i'y manipulation of the-seine. The h'z'iin'i'iier 27 7 ing Ont its puilioses'; D is pivota'lly niou'nted upon the frzinie, pfef- Othef O'bje'ts iinttndifziliitages of the hi embly by means of com ounclle r p? yentien reside in eeftainnoyel fetui'es (if 0'1'1 theafni 30 of which the hammer 2'? is 25 Oi h tidfi, ombination end zi'ira ngernent ceriied. The @emp'ound lever is" pi'oyided ofpai ts'whieh wi-ll beherei mfte mote11115; with 21 second ziiin' 31 which is received in V the pp d fl l im f i en e' being held f1 a1ne. It is pivoted to the fralnae by means 30 'fthi g gifi a-ti'on; :ifid iii which; I h are 1. A third arni 33 6f the compound Figure 1 is at side elevational' View of leyer is eonnected to one end of a, rename the inventionj M h h e011 spr ng-3 1, the othefend (if whiehfiis Figure 2 is a View" iniongitiidinal veitiy connected t i p OI'ti'Ofl' of triangular ex cal section; V tensienfie of the fr a'nie 10. The retiactile 35 Fi ur g i aplgm view I coil 34 1s tensioned to thieyii the V Figure 451s a view in transverse section hammer i firing acti n as wi be e ein on line 14'0 f Figure 1; I afteninoi'e funy described gFigu 5 i adeteii per speetiye View 51 Trip er trigger mechanism is pi bvided tlj ham gr nd' a i fed p t 7 h and ineludes eoacting trip levers 3G and 37.

40 Fi ur jmfla new f f th The trip level 36 has one end pivoted, as at w gin fi i l v g; gf l p {38, the e xtension3 5 Lind the tfip ieyfei Figure 7 isja' similar View of the other 1s pivoted interi'ned ate its ends to the pm enacting trip" lever. 11 of the frame, :is at 39 (see Fignre 2).

Referring to the drawings whei ein for Thehdjaeent ends ef the trip levers are pro 7 45 the sake of illnstretien is shown the pi-eg videct With cea'eting' sheiiid ers and 41, referred embodiment of the invention the spectiyely, adapted to inteflbck to releasably nuni'er'ai1Qciesigiiatteegenei'ahy a frame con seeurethe ti'ip Teyers' inset or locked pes istpuc'teci of t'W 'pa 'tsindicz ted ajt11,and12, tion. A detent el -seal; 12 is ezirr'iecl by the whifeh a're seenrecl tegetheiiby sui'tabie fesk trip 161 8136 adjacent its pivot 38 ztnd is 5O teni'ngmeansigsforinst nce zi' beltend'nrit adapted to engage and coziet with an in 13 (see Fig nie'etf; The 'part 1110f the frenie clin'ed shoulder 13 proyidedon theh anunei.

eeffiesf a single leg; 1 4; which is pointed; at A trip od is slidably mounted in the its Tower eiich zis at15; wheiehy it aybe beating arevideci the iei'iof in z lztteml arm forced finn-lyinte the ground to anchor the SQe'frietT by the pitft 11 ofthe franie" and gage a curved lug 51 mer 27.

In. practice, the gun is loaded by removintegral with the haming the barrel from the breech, inserting'the shell and replacing the barrel with the shelll 'inplace, as'shown in Figure 2. The, device is then placed nearthe burrow or role of the' animal. and the front leg 1 f is driven firmly into the ground to anchor the device and to incline it. The device is so positioned with respect to the burrow or hole that the muzzle of the barrel enters or is immediate tothe entrance to the burrowf The finger piece 27 is then grasped and the hammer is drawn back against the tension of the spring 3a and is then engaged by the latch 48 of the safety mechanism. The trip lever Lil the gopher or other animal.

36 is moved to engage the .detent or sear 42 with the inclined shoulder of the hammer and the trip lever 37 is moved to engage the interlocking or coacting shoulders of the trip levers. The trip rod n, having previously had the corn cob or the like placed on its outer end, is associated with the trip lever 37 and the corn cob on the other end. of the trip rod enters the burrow or hole of The safety mechanism is released by swinging the latch 48 upwardly so that its hooked end no longer engages the curved lug 51 of the hammer. The device is then ready for 'operation.

Then the animal contacts with the corn cob or moves the trip rod 4.4; which is freely slidable' in its bearing in the arm 45, this movement of the trip rod swings the trip lever 37 about its pivot and away from the trip lever 56 so that the shoulders eOand 411 of these levers are disengaged. When the shoulders are disengaged the retractile coiled spring 3% is effective to forcibly throw the hammer against the firing pin. The impact surface of the firing pin and hammer being thus forcibly engaged the striker of the firing pin is projected against the cap of the shell to explode thesame, It isobvious that this entire action is practically instantaneous with the movement of the trip rod 44 so that while the gopher contacts with the corn cob which is in the direct line of fire of the gun, the gun is fired and .the destruction of the animal is assured.

a two-part frame, fastening means for seextension r and having hooked end SOadrpted to e'ncuring the parts of' said frame together, a pair of diverging legs carried by the rear part of said frame, a singleleg carried'by the forward part of said frame andadapted to be firmly anchored in the ground to inclinethe frame,a breech carried by the rear part having a cavitytherein threaded at its forward end and a bore communicating with the rear of said cavity, a barrel having ex ternal threads engaged with thethreads of said breech, a firing pin slidably mounted in the firing line of said breech, a hammer for coacting' with saidfiringv pin, a com v pound lever carried by said hammer and having an arm pivoted to said frame, an arm integral with the hammer and a third arm angularly arranged with respect to said other arms,a frame extension rigid with the frame, retractile coil spring connected. at oneen'd to the frame extension, and at the other to the third arm of said compound lever and tensioned to throw said hammerinto engagement with said firing. pin, and trip mechanism including coacting trip levers, a trip'rod cooperating with one of said levers and adapted to be actuated by theanimal, and a detent carried by the other of said levers and 'engageable with the hammer. V m V 2. In a device of the character described, a two-part frame, fastening means for securing the parts of the frame together, a pair of diverging legs carried by the rear part of said frame, a single. leg carried by the forward part of saidframeand adapted to be firmly anchored in the ground to incline the frame, a breech carried by the rear part, a barrel associated with the breech, firing mechanism and trip mechanism controlling said firing mechanism.

3. In a device of the character described,

a twofpart frame, fastening means for securing the parts of said frameqtogether, a pair of diverging legs carried by the rear part of said frame, a single leg carried by the forward part of said frame and adapted to be firmly anchored in the ground to incline the frame, a breech carried by-the rearpart of the frame, abarrel associated with the breech, a firing pin slidably mount ed in the firing line of said breech, a hammer for coacting with said firingpin, a compound lever carriedby said hammer and having an arm pivoted to said frame, an arm integral with the hammer and a third arm angularly arranged with respect to said other arms, a frame extension rigid with the frame, a retractile coil spring connected at one end to the frame extension, and at the other to the third arm of said compound lever and tensioned to throw said hammer into engagement with'said firin'g pin,and trip mechanism including coacting trip levers, a trip rodcooperating with one of said levers and adapted to be actuated by the animal, and a detent carried by the other of said levers and engageable with the hammer. V

4:. In a device of the character described, a frame, a breech mounted thereon, a barrel associated With the breech, firing mechanism including a hammer, trip mechanism controlling said firing mechanism and adapted to be released by the animal, a frame extension rigid with the frame and safety mechanism including a latch pivoted to the frame extension and having ahooked end, the hammer having a curved lug engageable with the hooked end of the latch.

5. In a gun of the kind described, a frame comprising a pair of laterally and downwardly diverging legs intermediate its length and a single shorter leg extending downwardly from its front end, and a barrel mounted on the frame over the front leg and over and between the legs intermediate the length of the frame.

ROBERT FRANCIS ARMSTRONG. 

